K-On! Series

K-On is highly regarded in the anime community as a particularly great slice of life show revolving around the everyday life of 5 high school girls as they form a club and band creating music and performing in various venues. I picked this anime up as one of the first shows I watched, however I didn't get through the first season. It wasn't until mid-end 2017 that I finally sat down and completed the series. This is due to a number of reasons, none of which are the quality of the show. I found the anime to be one of the most comfortable shows I have watched, the story isn't anything big or special - the real reason to pick this series up is the characters. I have a hard time selecting a favorite character from the show - for the show and its story specifically it's a tie between Azusa and Ritsu, although Mugi nearing the end of the series really picked up and is a close contender. Ritsu in my opinion is great character due to her over the top energetic persona and her clumsy nature. Azusa is very similar, however for complete opposite reasons. She tries her best to be a leader and strict, but so desperately wants to participate in the antics of the other girls, I really relate with this. Mugi, towards the end of the series has developed I would believe the most out of all the characters. She has been trying her best to be normal like the other girls (which means trying to get in trouble), while everytime it ends in hilarity.

The series has a fantastic OST, however the real stand out for the music in this show is the songs Ho-kago Tea Time (the band) produce. The voice actors themselves have done live shows in which they performed their own songs - they learnt the instruments they use in the anime, the only one with past experience was Mugi's voice actor on the piano. This is some extreme dedication. I seriously recommend picking up (or downloading, which I did) the K-On Music History Box which contains every vocalised song they produced, along with the complete anime OST. I particularly enjoy Mio's song named 'No, Thank You!' which was used as an ED for season 2.
br> This series definitely is something special and will always be one of the first shows I recommend to anyone wanting to get a taste of anime.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou

Also known as 'Girl's Last Tour' this was one of the first series I watched from the original airing date every week until it unfortunately ended 12 weeks later. When I began the season I was dreading how the story might develop as I had terrible Made In Abyss vibes given off by those that have watched it, and as you may or may not know it's devastating (i'm putting it off myself for this reason). However, I only really had one moment which had my eyes watering - the moment Ishii's airplane broke apart mid flight. This brought on immense feelings of loneliness. The antics between authorative, mother-like figure Chii and the lovingly-hopeless child-like Yuu were extremely entertaining and always fit the atmosphere perfectly. Throughout the entire series, after the first episode and the scare of Yuu pulling her gun on Chii (which you later understand wasn't a serious act, instead a lesson) I knew Chii and Yuu were never actually in serious danger. I felt like they were invincible and in no way could die - I wasn't wrong. I'm really happy it was this way, there were many scares for their safety sprinkled throughout the show, but none of it got to me. Instead I was enjoying two fun girls driving throughout the destroyed world learning about things we take for granted. The ending of the anime left me with many, many more questions than answers and I really don't understand where or why the flying mushroom people exist, however I can forget that part of the finale - otherwise it was wonderful. This is the first series that has convinced me to pick up the manga, and i'm really enjoying it.

The OST for the anime is beautiful, particularlly the main theme, I really recommend listening to this track. The OP and ED songs are also equally beautiful but much more up-beat.